Is CMA Serious?

R

RAG

New member
This was taken from the CMA website while I was price shopping for some 8" pads for my new Dynabrade conversion:



"My reservations concerning Meguiar's 6-1/2 inch, Soft Buff Foam Pads also hold true for these 8 inch Soft Buff Foam Pads.



Quality is not the issue. I happen to know who makes these pads for Meguiar's and they are using the same thermally reticulated foam used by domestic automakers. My complaint with these pads are the shape. They're completely flat. I find flat pads much harder to control and they tend to produce more splatter. I much prefer working with our DUROFOAM VARIABLE CONTACT FOAM PADS. I admit this is my personal bias. I happen to know some excellent detailers who will only use flat pads."





Are these guys serious...flat pads are "in", because their better. I've never noticed any control issues with flat pad...DA or Rotary. In fact, I dislike the fact that the LC VC pads have so little surface area in contact with the surface. And their "Advanced" pads are the worst ever...a remake of the 80s pads. And as far as splatter goes, I've never, ever got splatter with a PC and I even start the machine on "6." Based on this and a few of their other write-ups, I think they need some better help...somebody that truely knows detailing.
 
I'm with you. I tried other pads that weren't flat and disliked them lots. When it comes to the rotary and me, it's flat pads only.
 
Throw me in the "likes flat better" category. I have recently tried the LC VC contact pads and while I do like it for polishing raised areas, I much prefer the flat pads.
 
I too prefer flat pads, especially with the rotary, though the contoured ones do have their uses.



BUT...I'm willing to cut CMA the same slack I do on everything else, just as I'm simultaneously a little *critical* of them for the same stuff: Terry and Jan (owners of CMA) do know their detailing OK, and they also know *marketing* ;) It's all ad-copy, designed to sell product, perhaps, in this case, a *particular* product- I suspect they get a better markup on those pads than on the Meguiar's-branded ones. Remember that the primary goal of *everything* on their website is to earn them money. When they say "I admit this is my personal bias" and then say how others prefer flat ones, well, I figure that's pretty straightforward and honest of them, so what's to criticize :nixweiss
 
Flat provides the best contact area period!



I even went so far to use a friends bandsaw, make-up a jig for the 6 and 7" pads I have for rotary and DA and proceed to shave-off that uneven contact area. Granted, the pads are now thin, but flat. Once they get worn (soon I can tell) I'll order replacements.



VC have a place, but it's the weight of the polisher that should flatten out a VC pad after it gets on the finish surface. The only benefit was to control over-application of polish which anyone experienced has no problem with that. The beveled edge has an advantage as well.



But, for leveling paint and final work, flat is where it's at.



Deanski
 
I cant stand the flat pads, i get much better control with the VC. I have flat pads just sitting around collecting dust.
 
CMA is full of it on many counts. All of their rebadged products parallel well with that statement...THEY ARE IN IT FOR THE MONEY and BS themselves out of anything.



Having used the rotary exclusively for a few years now, flat pads buff much smoother, but I like the quality of LC's so I continue to use.
 
I've used the Megs burgandy pad with a rotary and it slings like crazy-even with very little product. It leaves a fairly nice finish tho. I've used the Edge pads which have a slight concave curve and they produce almost ZERO sling. For rotary use IMO the EDGE pads are far superior to the Megs pads. For a PC a flat pad is the way to go IMO.
 
I have a well-worn 8" Soft-buff white pad that I was using the past weekend with the rotary. that old sucker still does an awesome job !!
 
Meh, I was about to post up some question like that before.

Yep, I like like flat pad on rotary and pc. I cant get hang of it with LC VC pad.
 
I just can't believe they'd bash any products they carry...wouldn't think that Meguairs would appreciate that too much if they knew - I can see really "touting" their favorite products more so than others, but to actually bash any product they carry baffles me.



Also, I too still periodically use the white LC VC pads for the rotary when I want to do heavy, aggressive polishing...and the panel doesn't have to many contours, as they aren't very flexible. But, all in all, flat pads are better.
 
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